Don't fret over globalized Sino-US ties

• Source: Global Times
• [00:56 November 23 2009]
• Comments

When US President Barack Obama toured the Great Wall on his recent visit to China, some observers noticed that among the US presidents who had visited the historical site in the last 37 years, Obama walked the farthest.

That may well symbolize how far Sino-US relations have progressed on the international stage.

Like it or not, ties between the two nations have become so globalized as to "shape the 21st century" of the whole world, as Obama put it during the first Sino-US Strategic and Economic Dialogue in July.

However, not everyone shares the vision of this strategic partnership.

While some are applauding Obama's right approach to "achieve a positive atmosphere," others are grumbling about it, insisting that the world's politics is still a zero-sum game and Obama should have concluded his visit with more tangible concessions being wrested from China.

Those uneasy about closer Sino-US ties are not only conservatives back home who are critical of Obama. There are pressures from elsewhere, too. On the eve of the Indian Prime Minister's state visit to the US, New Delhi has shown itself to be wary of the China- US Joint Statement issued last week. Japan has also revealed its fear of being neglected, and Europe, a passenger in the front seat, is worried at being pushed to a rear seat.

A closer Sino-US relationship should be welcomed, not only as a wise choice made by China and the US in a world of shifting power equations, but also as an irreversible trend for meeting the needs of a globalized world.

None of the global issues, be they short-term challenges such as striving for full economic recovery or long-term tasks such as curbing carbon emissions, can be resolved without concerted efforts by the two countries.

The anxiety in some neighboring nations is understandable, though. When the world was deep in the slump, China was called upon to share the responsibility with the US to mitigate the crisis. Now with economic green shoots appearing, geopolitical insecurities have resurfaced.

Any doubt about a sustainable Sino- US relationship being crucial to peace and development in the region and the world needs to be dispelled in quarters where Obama's visit has given rise to needless apprehensions.

The past year has seen effective action by multilateral forums, such as G20, wherein China and other emerging economies have acquired a greater say on global issues.

The course of Sino-US relationship hinges as much on bilateral factors as on global conditions.

A globalized Sino-US relationship, founded on "equality and mutual respect", as the Joint Statement said, will not come easy.

Though the charismatic Obama was impressive in his conciliatory approach to China, friction over protectionism, currency, or trade imbalance still looms large.

But as Obama said, the Great Wall has given him "a good perspective that a lot of day-to-day things we worry about don't matter."

That should be a vision shared by all.

To strengthen a mutually beneficial Sino-US relationship is in the common interest of all.

That is reason enough for those who expressed anxiety to be reassured.